Apparel-corset.



' No. 643,9ll. Patented Feb. 20, !900.

R. SAHLIN.

APPAREL CORSET. (Ap lication filed Jui 20, 1899. (No Model.)

nvenor *L UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

ROSE SAI-ILIN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

APPAREL- CQ'RS ET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,911, dated February 20, 1900.

' Application filed July 20, 1899. Serial No. 724,514. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom may concern:

Be it known that I, ROSE SAHLIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have in- Vented certain new and useful Improvements in Waist-Front Distenders, which are fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to articles of personal wear of the general character known as waist-front distenders or bust-forms; and it consists in improvements in the parts of the garment by which it is applied and fitted and retained in place.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a rear perspective view of my improved garment shown on a form. Fig. 2 is a front perspective View of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail elevation showing the form and structure of one of the lateral extensions from which the retainingstraps extend.

A is the front-form or body portion, which has the necessary stays to give the desired curves about the bust and waist. It has lateral under-arm extensions A' A', which terminate each in a waist strap or band D at the bottom and a shoulder-strap C at the top. The waist-straps D are calculated to lap one outside the other at the back, the body having a bound slot G near the lower edge at each side through which the underlapped strap may emerge. The straps have eyelets E E, and hooks F F are provided on the outer side of the body, forward of the position of the slot G, at both sides to engage the eyelets and secure the waist-straps. Each shoulderstrap returns over the shoulder on the same side on which it originates and is secured in any desired manner, as by a safety-pin H, to thde upper edge of the front-form at the same Sl e.

The lateral extensions A' A' are filled out at the rear to an edge J, which extends obliquely from the upper edge of the waist-strap to the corresponding edge of the shoulderstrap at the same side, said edges merging in each other by flowing curves and the circumflex edge at J', (see Fig. 3,) so that when applied to the person a continuous edge of the garment extends from the top of each shoulder obliquely across the back to the waist at the opposite side, as nearly as possible in a line which a flexible cord would take if drawn taut between the same terminal points on shoulder and waist, respectively, over the natural curve of the body. This edge being bound, and thereby stayed longitudinally, makes of this marginal portion a means of transmitting the stress from each shoulder across the back to the waist at the opposite side', as distinguished from transmitting the stress by crossed straps from the upper side of one shoulder to the lower side of the other or 'to the upper portion of the back edge of the opposite side of the garment, which has the effect of applying the stress down upon one shoulder and up under the other at the armpit, The upper edges of the shoulderstraps constitute at the lower part the underarm or armpit curve B.

One feature of my improved garment which increases its desirability is found in the circumstance that the Waist-straps do not extend across the front and are not directly connected to each other, but, on the contrary, are separately attached to the waist of the front at points at opposite sides of the middle point of the front and quite widely separated, so that the stress about the waist is experienced across th'is interval at the front and draws and holds this portion of the form taut and smooth, the entire excess of length which it is necessary to take up by means of the waist-straps being taken up by the lap at the back and no part of it being taken up by gathering fullness at the front.

I claim- 1. A waistfront distender comprising a body-front having under-arm extensions at each side, each such extension having two terminals at the rear end, one at the top and the other at the bottom, the top terminal being arranged to return over the shoulder on the side at which the side extension to which it pertains originates, and the bottom terminals of said extensions being arranged to lap by each other at the back and return to the front on the sides opposite those at which said extensions respectively originate.

2. A waist-front distender comprising a front-form or bodyportion having lateral under-arm extensions, said extensions having, at the rear, two terminals,one at the top con stituting a shoulder-strap, the other at the bottom, constituting a waist-strap, the top terminals being arranged to return forward, each over the shoulder on the side at which the extension to which it pertains originates, the bottom terminals or waist-straps lapping by each other at the back and returning forward and secured to the body portion at opposite sides, the upper edge of each waist-strap merging in the corresponding edges of the shoulderstrap terminal of' the same extension, by means of an oblique upper rear edge of such extension, whereby the two terminals and the rear edge portion of the extension to 

